My Dearest Owner
by RedactedIdentity
Summary: A faithful yellow puffle watches on helplessly as his dear owner falls into that soul-draining abyss her demanding job creates. What can a poor puffle do? Warning: Complicated writing style and sadness.
1. The First Chapter

Sometimes I wonder how puffles can move stuff. The only possibility I could think of are **telekinetic abilities!**

Penguins talking:

"Say what!"

Puffles communicating:

_What say?_

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><p><strong>My Dearest Owner: Chapter One<strong>

_A Certain, Yet-Nameless Puffle's POV:_

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><p>I was what they called a problem puffle.<p>

Although I don't know what was wrong with being me, but obviously the penguins had their own opinion.

Presently I was being watched by two shop assistants as I mushed my face against the glass of the puffle pen and pulled rather ghastly faces.

It was my way of begging.

The (more pleasant) lime green penguin handed me a piece of paper he tore from his notebook and lent me his stubby pencil, which I accepted with glee.

"Here you go."

The other (not as nice) shop assistant, a hot pink penguin, shook her head when she noted how crazily I was dabbling away on the paper with the stub of a pencil and remarked, "That puffle's going to be a problem." I glared at her briefly. What she said afterwards I didn't notice. A Pink came over and peered at what I was doing with curiosity.

_Please move. You're blocking my light._

It sidled to the right place and went on staring.

_Thank you._

Then three Greens bounced over and crowded all around the paper without a regard to the poor Pink who got shoved to the side.

_Hey, what's this?_

_It's an up-side down penguin!_

_No, it's not! It's a hat! It smells like one!_

I got impatient and chased them.

A cheeky Red sped off with the pencil in its mouth. An Orange drooled on my paper.

I let out a stream of angry squeaks.

_Argh, I give up!_

Fuming, I storm-hopped into the darkest cubby-hole, only to find a Black already there.

_Get lost,_ it grunted.

I glared.

_..._

It moved to one side grudgingly, letting me squish in beside it. And together, we proceeded to glower at the world sullenly.

"It's rather short-tempered," the pink penguin observed.

"Maybe that's what they call artistic temperament."

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure. I think it's something only artsy puffles have. Like, if you disrupt them while painting or drawing, they have the right to get really angry or moody and throw things around."

"Oh. That's problematic."

Just then, a purple penguin came in.

"How may I help you?" The green penguin asked politely.

The customer paused nervously.

"I want to adopt a puffle."

"Come on! Puffle line up!" The pink penguin hollered. We all stopped what we were doing and hopped into place. I glanced at Black's expression and tried copying it. Black scowled even more. I settled for the upper-lip pout.

"Would you like to take the quiz?"

"Next time, maybe. I just want to pick a puffle by my own choice."

The penguin waddled over to us and looked at each and everyone carefully. Her eyes stayed on Purple and Pink a bit longer than the rest.

"What's with the yellow puffle?" She asked suddenly. The assistants eyed each other.

"Problems," The pink one said frankly.

"Of the artistic temperament kind," The green one added in hastily. "Only temporary."

The penguin considered me and Purple.

"I'll choose..." she lifted her flipper slowly and pointed,"...that one."

I blinked. _Me?_

Black, who was nearby, muttered. _Congrats_.

I was surprised by it. _Thank you._

"What are you going to name it?"

The green assistant asked as he took out the papers and accessories.

The penguin beamed at me.

"His name is Arty 'O Del."

I dropped my pout and grinned back.

I was a puffle with a name now!

I am Arty 'O Del, the first puffle of SugarAnne16!

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

**The pink penguin's favorite word is 'problem', did you notice that? ^^**

**The names here are purely made up on the spot.**


	2. The Second Chapter

This is supposed to be first person (puffle) tense, point of view, or what… Arty is telling what has happened, and he's directing it at SugarAnne16, like he's writing her a letter. If it's a bit confusing for you, I'm sorry for making it so complicated. V_V

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><p><strong>My Dearest Owner: Chapter 2<strong>

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><p>You, SugarAnne16, you were a terrific owner and I adored you so. You tolerated my frequent drawings and paintings and you would always show them to your guy friend, JaQ9, ever so proudly. On our walks, you would point out interesting things for me to consider as art subjects and you never complained when I accidently dribbled paint on the floor of your igloo. I remember your favorites of my artwork were the large aquarium painting you hang just above the sofa, the portrait of us together, and a secret sketch of JaQ9 stashed somewhere behind a piece of furniture. Days were good, only we really didn't know it at that time. And they, those unnamed, mysterious beings, they said something like <em>good things never last<em>. And they were right.

As I look at you now, I wonder.

If I had known, I would have done everything in my puffley might to stop that odd device that came along with the mail. It brought a parasite with it, a parasite so skillful and stealthy that it devoured your happiness without you realizing a thing.

And you never did.

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><p><em>We crowded around the shiny black object with curiosity.<em>

_"What's this?" You wondered. You inspected it and slid a flipper across its gleaming screen. Evidently, you found something interesting, because your face lit up with excitement._

_"Sorry, Arty, got to go somewhere." You patted my head and departed. I waited patiently in the igloo, drawing as usual. But I was bothered by something I couldn't name. My drawing came out as unsettling scribbles and squiggles that led to nowhere as it twisted itself into a bundle, hiding that unraveling point that would make all straightened out again within its dark core. When you came home, you were radiating with exhilaration._

_"Guess what, Arty! I'm a part of the EPF now!" So saying, you picked me up and waltzed across the room, laughing with joy. Perhaps I was mistaken about my worries._

_"This calls for a secret party!" You whooped. It was the last we ever had._

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><p>The days following that, you came home and gushed all about how you found Aunt Arctic's puffles, survived in the wild and found a giant magnet on the roof of the Gift Shop. I was extremely happy for you.<p>

But then it started.

Exhaustion began haunting your eyes, paranoia became you shadow. You barely went out and enjoyed life anymore. You didn't laugh and goof around as before. You were always immersed in troubled thoughts.

It was like a heavy burden, a responsibility way too great for one single penguin to handle had been placed on you and your strength was rapidly failing under its crushing weight.

I remember you mentioned once that, perhaps, you weren't as great as they made you out to be. You said that you were a failure in the missions but you were determined to prove yourself, no matter what. I couldn't understand a thing you were saying, but I knew one thing. You weren't a failure. You are the best penguin I met and I wished so hard that I could tell you that. Maybe then you wouldn't look so sad anymore.

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><p><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>

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><p>Author's note:<p>

I have nothing against EPF. Don't get angry at me. =(

Please review!


	3. The Third Chapter

Slightly sad part: Penguin outburst, hurt, tears.

Read on! (^,^)

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><p><strong>My Dearest Owner: Chapter 3<strong>

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><p>JaQ9 began noticing that something was wrong, too. He visited more often, but you were seldom at home. And the few times you were there, you were moody with fatigue. You snapped at the penguin that had once dominated your thoughts and your heart.<p>

Something else _terrifying_ did now.

Although we had no clue what it was, we could feel that we were losing you, close friend and adored owner, to a monster that fed on your soul. JaQ9 tried to help you out of that pit you've dug for yourself. He valiantly tried to ask take you out for a dinner at the Pizza Parlor, to the Dace Club, for a game, ANYTHING for you to remember that you have to enjoy life, even for a while.

You rejected him brusquely every time.

Couldn't you see?

His efforts for you were so genuine, even a puffle like me knew that he _liked_ you.

That final time, he did his best.

He gathered up his courage and asked you out to a party.

How would you react?

Both of us held our breaths.

It was the last ditch effort.

But it was too late...

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU PEST! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO WORK OUT A PLAN THAT WOULD CONCERN THE SAFETY OF THIS ISLAND AND THE WHOLE PENGUIN POPULATION!" You had screamed hysterically at him, and his heartbroken expression was lost to your wrath.

"SO STOP BOTHERING ME! WHAT IF SOMEONE DIES, AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT, BECAUSE I WAS AT YOUR STUPID PARTY!"

You shoved him viciously against the hard wall, and ran outside, not to be seen again for an entire day. I edged towards where JaQ9 was slumped against the wall.

The excruciating pain and hurt, both heart-felt and physical, written on his contorted face was heartrending.

"Oh Arty," He rasped hoarsely with a voice drowned in grief as he stared at the domed ceiling, silent tears spilling down, "Will she ever come back to us?"

I nuzzled his flipper while choking back that glob of dismay. JaQ9 picked me up and embraced me tightly. His tears made my fur damp and matted, but I didn't care.

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><p><strong>To Be Continued…<strong>

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><p>Author's note:<p>

I know I'm stretching things a bit, but it's necessary for my story. =w=


	4. The Fourth Chapter

Author's note:

Thank you for the reviews! ^w^

(You can skip my replies. I'm not forcing you to read them)

_To Silvers45: Yes, I think you've made a perfect point there. She did kinda give herself away. But when you're angry, you don't really watch what's flying out of your mouth at times (that's my experience 0.0) But then again, JaQ9 would never report her, even if he knew about the EPF, because he isn't that kind of guy to do that to a friend, nevermind someone he likes. So I guess SugarAnne16 is quite lucky, but she doesn't know that herself. And, no, I haven't met Flare and Chirp, although they sound interesting. (I haven't played CP in a long time and now I can't log in at all T_T) But you'll meet my OC elite puffle, Scythe, in this chapter!_

_[[Lol, I've gone back to the center align thing, and I hope you'll forgive me, because it's just my bad habit of a style. Please bear with me!]]_

About SugarAnne16's obssession with EPF: She's kinda like Rookie, (not as successful as most agents are with their missions), but she tries to be better and everything, except she tries too hard and ends up hurting the ones close to her in her 'everyday' life.

And I know I maybe stretching things a little too much, but this story is just a random idea that I have to write down,(spoiler alert! lol) _especially that vital last phrase that this whole story is supposed to end in!_

This is supposed to be a two-shot, but I've chopped it up so that I can update faster. (I'll chop up the first chapter too.) The chapters gets shorter, though.

For you, my dearest reviewers, read on!

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><p><strong>My Dearest Owner: Chapter Four<strong>

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><p>Days went past with me alone in the igloo. You barely came back anymore as you were entirely occupied with missions. I spend those days mostly on the windowsill, staring out of the igloo hopefully. I was getting rather hungry, even though I had knocked down the box of Puff-Os on the shelf and finished what little remained in it some time ago. Boredom made me jump down from the ledge and look around for something to keep me amused. I had used up all the papers long ago. I hopped into my favorite corner and pushed the pencil around. An idea was forming in my head. I could draw something nice for you, and perhaps you would smile when you see the surprise, even just a little bit. I began working on the floor.<p>

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><p>A stretch of time later, I heard your weary steps approach the door. I wasn't done with the surprise yet! The door opened before I could do anything to cover my drawing and you stared at me. A flash of rage crossed your face.<p>

"ARTY!" You yelled. "LOOK AT THE MESS YOU MADE!"

I don't know what happened next, but I was sent rolling halfway out the door and would have hurtled right outside, if it were not for a black puffle that stopped my path. Pain burst on my cheek.

I flinched.

The black puffle lifted it shades and gave me a long gaze. With a jolt I realized it was the same Black that had been in the Pet Shop with me, although its fur was now pure black instead of dark gray.

_Black!_

I squeaked, forgetting my pain briefly.

_Incorrect. Designation: Agent Scythe. _It grunted, the way I knew it always did, the uniqueness that made other puffles and penguins alike treat him like a freak, much the same way they regarded me back then.

_You've changed,_ I noted, _you talk oddly._

_So have you: the temper you were so infamous for has been quenched,_ it replied back. I was stunned that it could tell. _Your eyes have lost their fire_, it explained when it noticed my look of bafflement. A wave of concern came from it as it examined the mark on my fur and frowned.

_She has been through a rough and discouraging time: the enemy has once again escaped from her grasp after all her efforts. She may be in a foul mood. It is better that you leave for a while._

It was talking about the possibility of you mistreating me. I jumped to your defense hastliy.

_I can't. She needs someone here for her. She never mistreated me before. I'm sure she really didn't mean it._ I blurted past the throbbing pain returning to my cheek_._

Scythe looked at me with admiration in its eyes.

_You are very loyal. You deserve better._

I could only say_: She used to be one of the best…_

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><p>I found out why JaQ9 didn't come around anymore. It wasn't that he was avoiding you, no. You had deleted him off your buddy list, all because you said you wanted some rest without him bothering you. You collapsed exhaustedly on the couch and slept the entire day away. I waited until you woke up again and watched as you stumbled around the igloo, muttering things under your breath, mostly about a polar bear and a crab. After a few minutes, you hurriedly put on a hoodie and left.<p>

I still didn't get anything to eat.

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><p><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>

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><p>On a side note:<p>

I think puffles are mostly expected to squeak and emit really cute sounds, so Scythe (with his deep grunts and growls and snarls and what-nots) was considered an oddity back then. But I find him rather cute. =3


	5. The Final Chapter

Here it is, the last.

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><p><strong>My Dearest Owner: The Final Chapter<strong>

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><p>If it had been any other normal puffle, I guess they would have chosen to leave.<p>

The hunger is excruciating.

My vision wavers so erratically, it feels like I am under water.

But because I am Arty O' Del, the puffle who trusts and adores you, I have stayed.

I have to let you see this, my _magnum opus_, my master piece.

You would be so proud of me…

The mental image of your smiling face, a sight I haven't seen in so long, makes me smile feebly.

The sofa looks so appetizing in my delirious state, but I restrain myself from gnawing on it; you would get angry, and I do not want to upset you.

As I stay there by the door for the past days, I hear a voice.

"Arty."

The voice sounds so far away, like it was coming from the other end of the world. My brain scratches through my blurred memories weakly. I find it draining to even think properly in my current condition.

It is JaQ9.

"Arty!"

I lift my bloodshot eyes to the window, but my sight goes gray and I cannot see the frantic penguin clearly.

"Arty, listen to me! Get out of there, leave her! You'll die of starvation if you stay in there for much longer. You don't have to do this."

His voice drops and I sense his sadness.

"Sugar doesn't deserve your loyalty by the way she neglects you."

He hesitates.

"It's plain cruelty."

It takes long for me to understand his words, but when I do, I turn away slightly.

_No, I must wait. She will be back soon. She will._

JaQ9 realizes that I wasn't going to budge.

"Alright, Arty, you wait. But if she doesn't return before I get some penguins from the Pet Shop to pry you away and give you some decent care, you're going with me."

_She will be back. She will._

JaQ9 leaves.

I wait

...

and wait

...

and wait.

The gray fog in my sight thickens…

until it becomes a white, white world for me.

Distant voices, a commotion somewhere, the sound of the door being broken down, and someone picks me up.

Was it you?

"Hold on, Arty! Don't die on me, okay?"

JaQ9's pleading voice.

"Please, please, please, please, please…" He repeats desperately under his voice like a mantra, but it sounds further and further away as I slowly slip.

_SugarAnne, when you see it, will you be happy…?_

_Would you…like it…?_

I can see a black stretch of space, going on for almost forever, dotted with small shining points of light singing to each other and with each other.

It's so beautiful... the darkness reaches out tenderly to embrace me in a hug from which it will never let go.

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><p>Today's mission went well. Herbert did escape, but it was by a great shot of good luck. For once, it wasn't her mistake. SugarAnne16 hummed happily as she trotted towards her igloo. Next time, that polar bear would be captured. This called for a celebration. The purple penguin hummed contently to herself. It had been so long since she felt so satisfied. Suddenly the thought of Arty comes to mind. She hadn't gone home for a week now, always staying at the CR (or HQ) to work out some serious plots. Guilt made her falter, but she pushed herself on. Arty will be okay, she thought, he was a strong puffle. She'll treat him to lots of goodies today, as an apology for being so busy.<p>

Yes, definitely lots of cookies and baths and walks and -

SugarAnne16tared, her high spirits suddenly gone.

The door of her igloo was broken.

"Oh my soul!" She shrieked and stormed into her home, fearing that all her furniture had been stolen. To her relief, nothing was missing. Except…

"Arty?"

No yellow puffle came hopping out to greet her.

"Oh, so now he's just gone and left," she huffed, "and somehow broke down in the process, huh. Now I have to buy a new igloo or a new door. How troublesom—"

"SugarAnne16," a voice said coldly.

The penguin span around.

"What?" She snapped, unnerved by the glare JaQ9 was giving her and his unexpected visit. "Go away."

"Do you know where Arty is?" He said slowly.

"He left for the wild, I assume," she said casually, although she was a bit disappointed inside.

"No, you're wrong," JaQ9 ground through his clenched teeth.

"Oh, so you know where he is?"She taunted."Do tell me."

JaQ9 glowered at her before turning away.

"What the heck was I thinking?" He scolded himself and spat a vicious reply at her.

"You don't deserve to know." He began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Sugar Anne yelled. "You're being unreasonable. I'm his owner, I paid money to adopt him, so I demand to know where he is."

"Some owner you are now."

"JaQ!"

The lime green penguin halted. His entire body shook with emotion.

"He is gone." These words cut the frosty air mercilessly.

JaQ9 lifted his face skyward and searched its blueness, as if looking for something at was no longer there.

"Because of you."

SugarAnne16 gasped.

"You don't mean-?"

But JaQ9 had left already.

"Wait!"

SugarAnne16 tried running after him, but she stumbled.

That was when she saw it.

A certain puffle had written a message on the floor.

She read it once, twice, and over again.

Then for the first time in months, she sat down and cried.

"Oh Arty," she sobbed,"I'm so sorry, so sorry...what have I done?"

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><p><em>Remember yor hapinesss. I luv yu<em>

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><p>Author's note:<p>

Well, it's finished. Whew! I can relax a bit now.

Review and tell me if you felt sad (even slightly) after reading this, or you just felt angry at SugarAnne for neglecting Arty. Or not.

But please don't get mad at me for ending it this way. I had said before that I wanted a sad ending... ;_;

btw did I get the Latin right? *is not so sure*

Anyway...review?


	6. Epilogue

**My Dearest Owner**

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><p><em>Present tense<em>

_Epilogue:_

_About a month later..._

Pale, cool sunlight flows into the igloo, spilling unto the floor to pool there in a patch where they have arrived at their long journey's end. Here, inside this particular igloo, the atmosphere is restful and quiet. The only sound that could be heard is a small scratching sound from within a puffle's 'house'. Moments later, a brown puffle emerges from its hiding place and hops towards the precious square of sunlight. It stops by a artsy-looking orange and yellow shelf and looks up with admiration.

Small paintings and drawings, all carefully framed, crowded up every inch of availible surface. Right in the middle of this, casting out a lively glow of light, was a custom made lamp mounted on a metal stand, its lamp shade in the shape of a smiling yellow puffle. A square slab of ice that originally belonged to the floor sat beside the lamp, displaying those mispelled yet beautiful words written on it for all visitors to see.

The name engraved on the bottom of the shelf read Arty O' Del. This was a memorial to a remarkable puffle who now rests in a place that those who knew him couldn't reach, couldn't find.

Chaddy sighs and adjusts his goggles. Perhaps he would never know the story of this puffle, because those who were part of it never really thought that he would want to hear it too. Or perhaps the memory was still too fresh and too sorrowful for them to breathe out yet. A rustling sound distracts the brown puffle from his un-mathematical thinking. In the second room of the split igloo, a black storm cloud rested on the floor. Or rather, an unusually dark black puffle wearing stylish black and chrome glasses tried reading a book. The puffle seems oblivious to the stir above its head. Chaddy gapes at the books zooming around in the air like half-crazed seagulls.

_Scythe!_ Chaddy squeaks in alarm.

The elite puffle looks up grumpily.

_What? _

At the same moment, the books halt their erratic fluttering and hover uncertainly near the domed ceiling.

_The books! What if SugarAnne sees!_

_Practice is essential for increasing power..._

Scythe grumbles as he flips a page over and squints at the words, still trying to get used to the glasses Chaddy made for his far-sightedness. The books floats towards the bookshelf slowly.

_It's six minutes past our feeding time; she is late tod-_

The door bursts open and the forementioned penguin rockets into the igloo, gushing.

"I'm sorry that I'm late! I tried to hurry but this penguin kept pestering me and stalking me and he yelled really weird stuff at me at the top of his voice- oh, what's wrong?"

She eyes the two puffles with curiousity. Chaddy looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown while Scythe was as impassive as ever. What she didn't see was the bookshelf rocking dangerously on its base from the impact of a dozen or so books slamming back into their places just a moment ago. "Well, anyway, you'll get to eat your cookies after your bath."

After Chaddy was clean and dry, SugarAnne turns to Scythe who was sitting very quietly in his bath water.

"Hop on out, boy," she holds out his fluffy gray towel and Scythe obeys soundlessly and the penguin dried the puffle's thick fur with care. "Hey, Scythe, how about a mission after I finish playing Find Four with JaQ later?" The elite grunted skeptically. "Golly, I think I'm going to miss you after I retire tomorrow and hand you back to Agent PH..." She brushes his hair as she talks. "But I guess you won't miss me, since you guard your heart so tightly."

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><p>So it's like this...<p>

SugarAnne and JaQ doesn't know where Arty 'rests', since the Pet Shop penguins took him away. (They like to think that he lies in a peaceful spot of the forest, where wild puffles squeak and hop...)

And as for things between SugarAnne and JaQ, they are back on square one in their friendship, but SugarAnne knows it's better than Game Over, so she's making the best out of this rare second chance. (She gave up her proud purple colour for a happy yellow to remind herself of this.) Chaddy the new puffle lives with Sugar happily enough, while JaQ seems to have started an obsession for feeding fishes, and his igloo feels more like an aquarium than a home. And Scythe with his cool glasses? Well, you're going to follow him into the upcoming CP fanfic:

*dum dum dum DUNNN!*

Scythe of the Loveless

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><p>REVIEW!<p>

JaQ9: do you read the name as Ja-CK nine or Ja-CUE nine?


	7. EDIT lol

Okay, since I forgot to put this in the story, I'll say it here. In reply to Silvers45, JaQ was trying to assure himself that Arty was still alive, because Arty was in a really awful state, all dull matted fur and almost no signs of life left in him. And JaQ can't give Arty cookies because, if you remember, he's been deleted off Sugar's buddy list, so he can't get in. So sorry for making you feel sad (TAT) but at that time I felt kinda down in the pits, so my head came up with this little tragic-ish fic.

To Smiley: You cried? I'm glad I'm not alone! I also cried when I wrote the last chapter, oh gosh. The Latin is magnum opus, meaning masterpiece, it was something I saw out of a book years ago. As for the new story, it's Scythe of the Loveless (might change it to Heartless 0.0) Read the last bit of the epilogue, or check out my profile to read more about it before it comes out.

And thanks to all you wonderful readers, your reviews have fuelled me on, past the short time I thought MDO was getting a bit silly to the time I have finished this fanfic...V_V (it's rare for me to complete a fic, 'cause I mostly give up halfway)


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